Frank E. Berrodin - Lawyer in Grand Rapids, MI

Frank E. Berrodin is a Member of thefirm and has been practicing law since 1987. Mr. Berrodins practice is devoted primarily to employee benefit and executivecompensation issues, particularly the design, drafting and administration ofqualified and non-qualified retirement and welfare plans for both taxable andtax-exempt entities.

A significant portion of Mr. Berrodins practiceinvolves the resolution of disputes that arise between employers and employeesregarding the benefits available under various plans, as well as disputesbetween employers and certain government agencies that regulate such plans(such as the IRS and Department ofLabor).

Qualified Plans

Mr. Berrodin works with company owners and executivesto design or enhance qualified employee benefit plans, including 401(k)retirement plans, new comparability profit sharing plans, employee stockownership plans, and cash balance pension plans. This includes showing owners and/or executivesways of maximizing their tax deductible contributions at the lowest total costto the employer and designing plans to accomplish the objectives of differentclasses of employees. It also includesexplaining the tax and other legal issues involved in establishing,administering and terminating tax-qualified plans.

Mr. Berrodin has also worked with anumber of employers who have discovered errors or problems with their qualifiedretirement plans to help them determine the best method for correcting theproblems. In many cases, this hasinvolved working with the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Labor andother federal agencies to minimize penalties and retain the tax-qualifiedstatus of a plan.

Mr. Berrodin has also assistedemployment lawyers in their negotiations regarding multiple-employer unionpension plans. For example, Mr. Berrodinhas provided analysis and cost comparisons of agreeing to increased contributionsto a multi-employer pension plan (which includes an increased share ofwithdrawal liability) as opposed to having the employer establish its ownretirement plan.

Nonqualified Plans

With respect to non-qualified plans, Mr. Berrodin hasbeen retained by company owners and executives to design a variety ofcompensation packages, including deferred compensation, phantom stock,restricted stock, stock options, and split dollar life insurance plans. This includes advising employers how tominimize the impact of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974(ERISA) on the plan and design and administer the plan in accordance with ERISAand other applicable laws.

Mergers and Acquisitions

In addition, Mr. Berrodin has been retained in mergerand acquisition matters relating to the spinoff or merger of plans anddetermining the value of benefits afforded to former key executives. As an example, Mr. Berrodin assisted a largehospital system with the acquisition of the employee benefit plans of another largehospital it acquired including a frozen pension plan and several definedcontribution plans. In another case, herepresented the executives of an acquired company in an arbitration involvingthe dollar value of the benefit package the executives were to receive. He also represented a group of over 15physicians regarding the spinoff of individual pension plans from the largeunderfunded pension plan of a defunct medical clinic.

Litigation Support

Finally, Mr. Berrodin has workedwith both plaintiff and defense attorneys regarding ERISA and contractualclaims for benefits. Mr. Berrodin hasextensive experience in determining the value of lost benefits (both past andfuture) and explaining the operation of various employee benefit plans and thecalculation of amounts payable under the plans, for judges and arbitrators whoare frequently unfamiliar with new or unusual plan designs.

Professional Affiliations,Activities and Honors

Mr. Berrodin is a member of the TaxSection of the American Bar Association, State Bar of Michigan, and Grand RapidsBar Association. He also previously heldan adjunct faculty position at Davenport College where hetaught Business Law. In addition, he hasserved as an instructor for the Grand Valley State University Masters of TaxProgram Employee Benefits course.Mr. Berrodin is listed in The Best Lawyers in America? for EmployeeBenefits (ERISA) Law and was named as Best Lawyers 2013 Grand RapidsEmployee Benefits (ERISA) Law Lawyer of the Year. He is a Michigan Super Lawyerfor Employee Benefits/ ERISA. He isrecommended by Chambers USA for Employee Benefits ExecutiveCompensation.

Community Activities

Mr. Berrodin currently serves on the Boardof Education for William C. Abney Academy. He is also on the Forest HillsNorthern Athletic Boosters board. Mr.Berrodin previously served on the Board of Directors of the Thornapple Valley Youth Baseball League. Mr. Berrodin was on the Board of Directorsfor the Lakeshore Lung Society as well as serving as the Finance CommitteeChairman. He also was on the United WayServices Review and Allocation Panel, Muskegon Area Alliance Health Panel, and participatedin the Muskegon Community Leadership Academy

Education

Mr. Berrodin received his law degree, cum laude, from Indiana UniversitySchool of Law — Bloomington in 1987 and hisundergraduate degree from Hope Collegein 1984. While in law school, Mr.Berrodin was a member of the Indiana LawJournal editorial staff. He isadmitted to practice in Michigan.